Presser roller attachments



June 23, 1959 E; c, KUNES 2,891,496

. PRESSER ROLLER ATTACHMENTS Filed Oct. 26, 1956 2 Sheets-Shea}: 1

:5 i: INVENTOR.

Earle C. Kunes WITNESS I BY A TORNEY June 23, 1959 E. c. KUNES PRESSERROLLER ATTACHMENTS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct 26, 1956 lNVENTOR. EarleC. Kunes BY WITNESS United States Patent PRESSER ROLLER ATTACHMENTSEarle C. Kunes, Milford, Conn., assignor to The Singer I ManufacturingCompany, Elizabeth, N.J., a corporation of New Jersey ApplicationOctober 26, 1956, Serial No. 618,605 '2 Claims. Cl. 112-214 Thisinvention'relates to sewing machines and more particularly to an upperpuller feed presser roller which when employed to cooperate with abed-supported lower driven feed roller forms a puller feed mechanismdrawing the material being sewn past the stitching point.

It is an object of the-present invention to provide a puller feedpresser roller which is constructed and arranged in a manner such that,in the event that fabric being sewn has sections of varying thicknesswhich are in engagement between the presser roller and lower feedroller, the puller presser roller will automatically compensate for thedifierence in thickness to maintain a uniform and equal pressure on eachfabric section and thereby draw the fabric past the stitching pointalong a straight line.

It is a further object to provide a puller presser roller device whichis constructed as a unitary attachment, whereby the attachment may beselectively secured to or removed from a sewing machine having a lowerfeed roller to form therewith a puller feed mechanism.

It is still another object of the invention to provide a means forelevating said puller presser rollers out of engagement with the lowerfeed roller simultaneously with the raising of the usual presser foot,whereby the removal of the fabric from the sewing machine is greatlyfacilitated.

Fig. 1 is a rear elevational view of a sewing machine embodying thepuller feed presser roller attachment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary end elevational view of the machine illustratedin Fig. 1 and showing the puller feed presser roller attachment.

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view of the puller. feed presser rollerattachment taken along the line 3-3 of Fig.1.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary front elevational view of the head takensubstantially along the line. 4--4 of :Fig. 2 showing details of thetreadle lifting mechanism for simultaneously lifting the presser bar andpuller presser roller section.

The machine embodying the present invention includes a bed 11 having astandard 12 rising from one end thereof, which standard supports anoverhanging bracket arm 13 that terminates in a head 14 in which isjournaled a spring depressed presser bar 15 and the usual reciprocatingneedle bar not shown. A cloth plate 16 is mounted on the bed 11 to forma work supporting surface. Behind the stitching instrumentalities andthe presser bar 15 there is journaled in the bed 11 a driven lower feedroller 17 which may be driven either continuously or intermittently bywell known mechanism not shown. The feed roller 17 has a serratedperipheral feed surface 18 which is arranged to project through anopening in the cloth plate 16 and cooperate with the upper puller feedroller attachment 19 carried by the head 11.

The upper puller feed presser roller attachment 19 comprises arectangular supporting frame 20 having "ice formed adjacent one of thevertical reaches 21 an inwardly projecting attaching bracket 22 whichreceives screws 23 securing the frame 20 to the rear of the sewingmachine head 11. Loosely journaled for vertical sliding movement in thespaced horizontal reaches 24 of the frame 20 are a pair of parallelpresser rods 25 each having secured to its lower end a supportingbracket 26 carrying a horizontal trunnion 27 upon which is journaled forfree rotation a roller section 28 which is adapted to engage the lowerfeed roller 17. As shown, the respective roller sections 28 are slightlyspaced in side-by-side relationship whereby the roller sections 28 mayeach rotate about its respective trunnion independently of the other.

Yieldably to urge each of the roller sections against the lower feedroller 17 there is provided on each of the presser rods 25 an encirclingcoil spring 29 that abuts at its upper end against the shoulder of anadjustable hearing sleeve 30 supporting the rod 25 in the upperhorizontal frame reach 24. At its other end the spring abuts against asplit collar 31 secured to the rod 25.

The split collars 31 are each formed with a laterally projecting guidingextension 32 which is slidably disposed in an elongated slot 33 formedin the vertical frame reaches 21. This arrangement limits the verticalmovement of the bars 25 and prevents the rods 25 from tuming about theirlongitudinal axis, whereby the respective roller sections are maintainedin their side-by-side relationship. For the purpose of maintaining thedesired sliding fit between the guiding extension 32 and slot 33, theguiding extension may be provided, as shown in Fig. 3; with a slit 34which receives a screw 35 having a tapered head 36, which head 36 servesto spread the slit 34 and thereby renders the width of the guidingextension 32 adjustable to achievethe desired contacting or slidingrelationship.

The roller sections 28 may be raised and lowered relatively to the lowerfeed roller 17 by either a foot treadle mechanism or a manual hand liftmeans. While in the embodiment of the invention shown both treadle andhand lift means are incorporated in the attachment, it is to beunderstood either may be eliminated without in any way affecting thefunction of the other. For the purpose of utilizing either type oflifting means there is carried by each split collar 31 a lifting plate37, one end of which is secured to the inner side of the split collar 31by a screw 38 which also secures a disc follower 39 on the liftingplate37. The disc followers 39 on the lifting plates 37 are arranged inspaced side-by-side relationship in a manner such that each of the rods25 are individually movable and when engaged by the hand lifting meansare levated simultaneously to raise the rollers 28 out of engagementwith the lower feed roller as will hereinafter be described. The freeends of the lifting plates 37 are formed with inwardly turned flanges 40also arranged in spaced side-by-side relationship in a manner such thatthey are simultaneously engageable with the treadle lifting mechanism ina manner later to be described.

For the purpose of by hand raising and lowering the presser rollersrelative to the feed roller, there is pivotally journaled in spacedibearings formed on the lower portion of the frame 20 a shaft 41, oneend of which extends beyond the frame 20 and has secured thereto ahandle 42. Also secured on the shaft 41 is a lifting cam 43 formed witha camming surface 43a (Fig. 2) positioned to engage both of the discfollowers 39 and simultaneous 1y raise both of the presser trollersections 28 when the handle 42 is lifted. To maintain the presserrollers in a locked raised position the cams 34 may be formed with alocking notch 43b.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 4, the foot treadle lifting mechanism includes alifting lug 44 secured on a presser bar lifting strap 45 and located toengage the inturned flanges 40. The lower end portion of the liftingstrap 45 is provided with an elongated slot 46 through which a laterallifting finger 47 clamped on the upper end of the presser bar 15extends. The other end of the lifting strap 45 is connected to an arm ofa bell crank 48 pivotally carried on the head 14. Connected to the otherarm of the bell crank 48 is one end of a link 50, the other end of whichis connected to a second bell crank 51 which is connected to a treadle(not shown) by a chain 52. In the absence of a lifting force exerted onthe treadle, the presser bar 15 is normally yieldably urged downwardlyby a leaf spring 54 engaging the upper end of the bar, the lower end ofthe lifting strap abutting against a stop pin 53. In this position thelifting finger 47 is freely yieldably movable in the lifting strap slot45 and the presser roller lifting lug 44 is located in alignment and:below both of the inwardly turned flanges 40 of the lifting plate. Whenthe rollers are to be raised, the treadle is depressed whereupon thelifting strap 45 and lifting lug 44 substantially simultaneously engagethe presser foot lifting finger 47 and the lifting plate flanges 40respectively and raise the presser roller sections relatively to thecloth plate 16.

From the foregoing description it is readily apparent that the presserroller attachment of the present invention has many advantagesparticularly in the event that the fabric being stitched and passingbeneath the roller sections is formed with a seam which only partiallyextends along the length of puller feed mechanism. With the presentstructure, wherein the presser roller comprises a plurality of presserroller sections 28 which are each independently mounted on individualyieldably movable supporting bars, the presser roller sections over theseamed and unseamed sections of fabric may automatically yieldrelatively to each other, whereby the varying thicknesses of seamed andunseamed fabric are each maintained against the lower feed roller with auniform and equal pressure. Accordingly, the pull exerted on each of thefabric sections is substantially equal and the fabric will be drawnthrough the stitching instrumentalities along a straight line. By theprovision of the adjustable bearing sleeves 30, which abut against theupper ends of the coil springs 29, the amount of pressure exerted byeach roller section may be determined and the direction of pull on thefabric sections beneath the roller section may be accurately controlled.Thus, if for any reason the force of springs 29 become unbalanced andthe pressure exerted on the different thickness fabric sections is notequal and the material is thereby pulled past the stitchinginstrumentalities on a curved line, by merely adjusting the bearingsleeves 30 the equal pressure may be again obtained to exert a straightline pull on each fabric section.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention, what I claim hereinis:

1. A sewing machine including a bed and a lower feed roller journaledtherein, a head and including a presser bar mounted therein, a pluralityof rods mounted on said head for limited axial movement substantiallynormal to the bed, a puller presser roller section rotatably carried byeach of said rods and arranged in side-by-side relationship along a linetransversely of the direction of feed, a resilient means on each of saidrods normally urging said puller presser rollers into axial alignmentand into engagement with said lower feed roller and yielding to permitindependent movement of said puller presser roller sections relativelyto each other away from said lower feed roller whereby when fabrichaving sections of varying thicknesses transversely of the direction offeed passes beneath each of said presser roller sections said presserroller sections are movable out of axial alignment and the varyingthicknesses of fabric sections are each maintained on said roller feedwith an equal pressure, and lifting means mounted on said sewing machinehead and operatively associated with each of said rods and said presserbar substantially simultaneously to raise said presser bar and saidpresser roller sections away from said bed.

2. A sewing machine including a bed and lower feed roller journaledtherein, a head and including a presser bar mounted therein, a pluralityof rods mounted on said head for limited axial movement substantiallynormal to the bed, a puller presser roller rotatably carried by each ofsaid rods, resilient means engaging each of said rods normally urgingsaid puller presser rollers into axial alignment and into engagementwith said lower feed roller and yielding to permit independent movementof said puller presser roller sections relatively to each other awayfrom said lower feed roller whereby when fabric having sections ofvarying thickness passes beneath each of said presser roller sectionssaid roller sections are mova-ble out of axial alignment and the varyingthicknesses of fabric sections are each maintained on said roller feedwith equal pressure, a lifting plate secured to each of said rods, andlifting means arranged on said head and engageable with said liftingplates and said presser bar substantially simultaneously to raise saidpresser bar and said roller'sections away from said bed.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,715,119 Clarkson May 28, 1929 2,401,216 Becker May 28, 1946 2,726,614Hale Dec. 13, 1955 2,741,197 Winberg Apr. 10, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 430Great Britain of 1865

